Hook conveyer



Sept. 2, '1952 J. LEACH HOOK CONVEYER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed March 12,1951 INVENTOR.

Sept. 2, 1952 J. M. LEACH 2,609,082

HOOK CONVEYER Filed March 12, 1951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 na U IN V EN TOR.

yh h- M Iaten ted Sept. 2, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HOOKCONVEYER John M. Leach, Port Washington, N. Y. Application March 12,1951, Serial No. 215,114

3 Claims.

overhead type. i

It is an object of the present invention to provide an overhead conveyorof the chain and trolley type in which rolling contact exists at allpoints between the moving and fixed parts of the system. Y 7

It is another object of the present invention to provide an overheadconveyor having rolling contact at all points between the movingandfixed parts, at vertical and horizontal turns as well as on the straightsections, without resort to traction wheels or roller supports at theturns.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an overheadconveyor in which the forces set up due to the trolleys makinghorizontal turns are distributed over three wheels.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an overheadconveyor in which the pull of the chain has no tendency to tilt thetrolleys relative to the track in the direction of travel of theconveyor.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an overheadconveyorin which the load has no tendency to tilt the trolleys relativeto the track on up or down runs.

It is a still further object of the: present invention to provide anoverhead conveyor which can be manufactured economically from partswhich are obtainable on the open market, and in which the chain pull isreduced to aminimum.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art as the description of the nowpreferred form of the invention proceeds.

For a more detailed description of the invention, reference is made tothe accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to thesame parts throughout, andin which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a trolley of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is cross sectional view of a trolley of the invention takensubstantially on the plane indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a trolley of the present invention andconnecting chain sections;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the trolleys, chain and trackof the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the overhead conveyor of the presentinvention taken substantially on the plane indicated by line 5-5 of Fig.4;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a horizontal curve of the conveyor of thepresent invention;

Fig. '1 is a cross sectional view of a horizontal curve section of thepresent invention taken substantially on the plane indicated by line 1-1of Fig. 6; 1

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view of the conveyor of the presentinvention taken substantially on the plane indicated by line 8-8 of Fig.3;

Fig. 9 is a side elevational view of the conveyor of the presentinvention showing a vertical curve, and

Fig. 10 is a cross sectional view of the conveyor of the presentinvention taken substantially on the plane indicated by line Ill-4B ofFig. 9.

The supporting track structure of the conveyor is preferably formed ofT-sections (see Figs. 4 and 5) l2 connected at suitable intervals bybrackets M which are preferably welded to the T-sections and also serveas points of attachment for any suitable type of supporting hangers (notshown) for suspending the conveyor from the ceiling or other desiredpoint- The trolleys comprise plates 16 carrying through shafts [8 towhich vertical wheels 29 are suitably affixed. The plates l6 haveopenings .22 which receive horizontal wheels 24 which are suitablyretained in position as by welding the shafts for the wheels 24 to theplates I6 as shown at 26. 28 are formed in the plates l6 and receiveload hooks of any desired type such as shown at 30.

U-shaped clips 32 are pivoted to the plates l6 by suitable rivets orbolts 34 which pass through aligned holes in the clips 32 and plates [6.Through pins 35 of chain connecting sections 38 pass vertically throughthe clips 32 and thus con nect the connecting sections and trolleystogether in an endless element.

The chain and trolleys are propelled along the track by any desired typeof drive (not shown) which may be of the sprocket or Caterpillar'typ'e.

Where the conveyor makes horizontal turns the brackets 14 are replacedby higher brackets 40 and a third track section E2 is suitably fastenedto the brackets 40 above the outside bottom track section 12. When atrolley comes into a horizon tal turn, the chain 38 chords across asshown at 44 in Fig. 6 and rocks on the inside track section I2 for theoutside wheel 28 to break contact with the outside track section l2 andmake contact with the underside of the top track section 42 and for thehorizontal wheel 24 to make contact with the inside of the flangeportion of the inside track section l2, as shown in Fig. 8. In thisposition, the chain pull is carried substantially equally by all threewheels as shown by the force arrows A, B, and C in Fig. 8. Under thesecon- Substantially arcuate shaped slots ditions, the wear is distributedbetween three wheels instead of being thrown upon only one or two wheelsand the life of the wearing parts is greatly prolonged. Also, neitherthe chain 38 nor any part of any trolley rubs on any fixed part of theconveyor, which provides full rolling contact between these partswithout requiring the use of a traction wheel or a separate roller turn.

The construction thus far described also makes it possible to utilizevery sharp horizontal turns because of the absence of rubbing or slidingfriction. The minimum turn radius is limited solely by the size of theloads being carried because the turn radius can be made as small asdesired as long as it does not go below the distance between trolleys.By reducing the distance between trolleys the turn radius can be made assmall as desired.

Where the conveyor makes vertical turns as shown in Fig. 9 two curvedsections of track 46 and 48 are suitablyattached to the brackets 40 overthe bottom curved sections of track l2 as shown in Fig. 10. On verticalturns the chain 38 chords across between the upper track sections 46 and48 as shown at 50 on the up run and between the bottom rails l2 as shownat52 on the down: run. Here, as on the horizontal turns, full rollingcontact is present at all points of contact between moving and fixedparts without the use of traction wheels or separate roller turns. Thevertical turns can likewise be made very sharp in the same manner andunder the same conditions as the horizontal turns.

At the bottom of vertical turns there is a tendency for the wheels toride on the top track sections 46 and 48 as shown in Fig. 10. Thisenables the load to tend to hold the chain taut at all times when theconveyor is loaded but not so taut when it is not loaded. This againgreatly prolongs the life of the conveyor.

The load hooks 30 ride from the middle to the lower end of the loadslots 28 when the conveyor is on an incline or decline. This keeps theload substantially centered beneath the axis of the vertical wheels 20on up and down runs which eliminates the tendency for the load to tiltthe trolleys and put excessive strain on both trolleys and chain. Thisfeature again greatly prolongs the life of the conveyor, and reduces thepower required to drive it. The hooks return to the middle on straightruns.

The conveyor of the present invention is simple in structural details,being capable of being assembled from standard parts so far as track,wheels and chain are concerned; leaving only the plates l6 and brackets14 and 40 as special parts. This'feature greatly reduces the cost ofmanufacture of the conveyor.

Thefact that theaxis of the chain intersects the axis of the verticalwheels and theaxis of the horizontal wheel substantially intersects theaxis of the vertical wheels produces a conveyor with .very low chainpull per unit of load because this eliminates any rubbing contactbetween moving and fixed parts; eliminates any tendency for the pull ofthe chain to tilt the trolleys in the direction of the line of the chainand thereby prevents friction and undue stress on the chain; distributesthe chain pull over three wheels on horizontal turns; eliminates anytendency for the chain to tilt the trolleys on vertical turns, andaccomplishes all of this without the aid of traction wheels or rollerturns.

The conveyor of the present invention provides a very simple andfool-proof piece of material handling equipment which has a very lowinitial cost and a long life with a minimum of maintenance.

Various changes in the arrangement, size and shape of the various partsmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the inventionand the scope of the appended claims.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A conveyor comprising -a pair of curved, spaced apart track sectionshaving horizontally disposed faces and the inside one of which has avertically disposed face, trolleys positioned between the tracksections, each trolley comprising a main member, a pair of verticallydisposed wheels revolving about a horizontal axis carried by said mainmember and supported by said horizontally disposed faces, a horizontallydisposed wheel revolving about a vertical axis substantiallyintersectingthe axis of the horizontally disposed wheels and carried by said mainmemher, a third track section disposed above the outside one of the twoabove mentioned track sections and spaced vertically from said outsidetrack sections a distance such that a slight rock of the trolley in adirection transverse of the line of travel will bring the outside wheelin contact with the top track section, the inside wheel in contact withthe horizontal face of the inside track section and the horizontallydisposed wheel in contact with the vertical face of said inside tracksection, and sections connecting said trolleys together and positionedabove the horizontally disposed wheel but not above the axis of thevertically disposed wheels.

2. A conveyor as set forth in claim 1 in which the main member isprovided with an arcuate slot for receiving the load.

REFERENCES CITED' The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent? UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,723,148 Fowler .1Aug. 6, 1929' 1,810,416 Francis June 16, 1931 Neher et al 'Mar. 6, 1934

